43 COMMENTS

When I refer to you as an extremist, I do not mean the views you hold are extreme outliers on the boundary of your religion. No, it seems the common Muslim holds many of the same beliefs and you are just one of a multitude. Nothing special, just another of the faceless, believing herd lacking any free thought or individuality. You’re not extreme amongst your kind. You’re indistinguishable amongst your kind.

What I mean when I refer to you as an extremist is that your views are considered extreme to ME and to most other clear thinking, critically minded, rational people. To stone a woman to death because you’ve decided she’s guilty of adultery is extreme. To fatally pelt a man with rocks because he loves one of the same sex is extreme. These actions remain extreme whether it’s one or one billion of you who consider it acceptable.

I do not find it acceptable and I will fight with all the legitimate means at my disposal to ensure that this kind of savagery is never adopted in any society I am part of.

When I refer to you as an extremist, I do not mean the views you hold are extreme outliers on the boundary of your religion. No, it seems the common Muslim holds many of the same beliefs and you are just one of a multitude.

I do not find it acceptable and I will fight with all the legitimate means at my disposal to ensure that this kind of savagery is never adopted in any society I am part of.

If political correctness and the accomodationist cultural/moral relativism continues to hold sway let’s hope that legitimate means will remain sufficient.

I saw a “moderate” Muslim pinned down by a former Muslim extremist on TV last week. The moderate said that he abides by the laws of the UK, so he wouldn’t be stoning anyone. But when he was asked what he would do if a Muslim majority took power, he went silent. They are moderate as long as they are outnumbered. They are moderate as long as it keeps them out of prison. I think I prefer the extremists.

That other guy on that other thread has the exact train of thought that promotes and allows Islam to fly planes into buildings AND have “peace” conferences. Way to go, pal. The rest of the world cannot even say peace conference without putting peace in quotes. SAD SAD SAD, and enabled by the muddled thought of the unthinking thinkers.

I thought it was funny (unmoving mover) originally, and now that I’ve come to terms with it’s implications, I am aghast.

Massoud was a charismatic military leader fighting against the Taliban government in Afghanistan and some might say a moderate. In any case, he was assassinated on September 8, 2001, by extremists from Tunisia, possibly on the orders of Osama bin Laden as a favor to his hosts, the Taliban government. In any event, Massoud was snuffed out by the extremists.

Massoud was a charismatic military leader fighting against the Taliban government in Afghanistan and some might say a moderate.

You remake my point. Thanks. I will take this opportunity to qualify moderate, though. He wasn’t that, quite the reverse in fact. The Lion of Panjshir fought for the democratic rights of men and women and for the equality of women, an immoderate and quite radical position-

>

“Massoud is adamant that in Afghanistan women have suffered oppression for generations. He says that ‘the cultural environment of the country suffocates women. But the Taliban exacerbate this with oppression.’ His most ambitious project is to shatter this cultural prejudice and so give more space, freedom and equality to women — they would have the same rights as men.”[7]
—Pepe Escobar, in ‘Massoud: From Warrior to Statesman’

I post this with monotonous regularity in the hope of people realising that Islam and its holy book are not supernatural in their power, that a religion is only what its adherents agree it to be.

“the religion is extremist in nature”
As long as Western countries have 25 – 50 times the GDP of Afghanistan, we can’t expect much of that particular Islamic republic and others in similar deprivation. I haven’t read that the Norwegian government is about to adopt stoning to death as a penalty for extramarital sex. Since even Afghanistan hasn’t done that, it seems not at all likely.

“the religion is extremist in nature”
As long as Western countries have 25 – 50 times the GDP of Afghanistan, we can’t expect much of that particular Islamic republic and others in similar deprivation. I haven’t read that the Norwegian government is about to adopt stoning to death as a penalty for…

The size of a population holding a particular position doesn’t define whether it is extreme or not; it is the degree to which the position is immoderate or fanatical that determines extremism. If everyone in an auditorium believes the theft of a loaf of bread unequivocally calls for amputation of the thief’s arm, or if only one holds that view, it is still an extreme position.

We’ve now had the same nonstory told from three (barely) different perspectives: here, here and here.

This is turning into Rashomon.

“Maybe you should consider converting to Islam, if you sympathize so much with it?…I start to worry. If they go to a meeting of the kind shown in the videos, then I can safely assume they’re extremists!”

Radical gay activists will similarly pretend to be seeking peace. That doesn’t fool the astute homophobe however, who can keenly sense when political correctness has taken over.

Environmentalists also provide cover for extreme climate scientists promoting their AGW “theology”, as the new Australian federal minister Greg Hunt has characterized the situation.

These extremists say they want peace, but how can we be sure? If we allow this for Islam it will send the wrong message to other radical groups. Feminist sympathisers and gay supporters will consequently feel justified to force their agendas. Some of them aren’t even gay, or women. They’re just wannabes.

*Nice T-shirt… Religion is a disease indeed. Sometimes a relatively benign disease similar to acne, like with the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, sometimes something much worse, like say Scientology or this.

*I’m shocked to see all these stupid sheep, all raising their hands like good little obedient Nazis, a good portion of them undoubtedly because of the peer pressure, of their crazier companions.

*I know quite a few people, who insist on calling themselves Muslim, that I like and trust: they don’t frequent mosques and are not particularly religious in any sense. They’re cultural Muslims with some kind of faith in their protector divinity. If an individual goes to a mosque, that’s when I start to worry. If they go to a meeting of the kind shown in the videos, then I can safely assume they’re extremists!

*Nice T-shirt… Religion is a disease indeed. Sometimes a relatively benign disease similar to acne, like with the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, sometimes something much worse, like say Scientology or this.

*I’m shocked to see all these stupid sheep, all raising their hands like…

Hey, you get to call people stupid crazy Nazi sheep but I’m not allowed to say Bill Maher is halfwitted!

More reason and less emotion please, Fouad.

It’s nice to see you’ve befriended some Muslims. Does any of them own a business? I’m just curious.

*I have lots of Muslim relatives. But you see, I only talk to the alcohol-drinking, bikini-wearing ones. The hijab-wearing, halal-eating ones make me want to puke, so I avoid them like the plague. May the Devil take good care of them.

*More importantly now, do you really mean it that Bill Maher is a half-wit? I think he’s very smart!!! Most of what he says is very relevant!

*Why is this a “non story”? These people clearly approve of stoning, not? I’m genuinely puzzled by your attitude… Maybe you should consider converting to Islam, if you sympathize so much with it?

*I have lots of Muslim relatives. But you see, I only talk to the alcohol-drinking, bikini-wearing ones. The hijab-wearing, halal-eating ones make me want to puke, so I avoid them like the plague. May the Devil take good care of them.

*More importantly now, do you really mean it that Bill Maher is a half-wit? I think he’s very smart!!! Most of what he says is very relevant!

*Why is this a “non story”? These people clearly approve of stoning, not? I’m genuinely puzzled by your attitude… Maybe you should consider converting to Islam, if you sympathize so much with it?

I can’t say it surprises me that someone whose contempt for a particular ethnic group is so severe it led to self-imposed ostracization from his own family would be puzzled by my attitude. I feel genuinely bad for you, Fouad. It’s easy to forget that bigots themselves can be victims of their own intolerance.

It’s a nonstory because this is fewer than seven minutes of footage from a much longer conference and therefore unrepresentative of the whole thing; which because it’s telling them what they want to hear has convinced an embarrassingly large number of people to abandon any pretense of critical thinking and willingly impute the attitudes of a few onto each and every single solitary motherfu#king Muslim on God’s green earth.

Maybe it isn’t a nonstory after all. Maybe the story is Non-Believers’ Credulousness Bewilders Nice Atheist Girl Who Doesn’t Leave Brain at Door When Convenient.

Christ, you can’t get away from comments questioning the ‘real motives’ of those involved on the rare occasions a thread appears on this site detailing some good thing a Muslim or group of Muslims might have done. But this one idiot on stage says something which another bunch of idiots in the audience agrees with and you accept it as proof positive everything you suspected about these people is true… because they said it?!

It is nice to hear the if-you-love-it-so-much-why-don’t-you-marry-it argument after so many years. You’ve taken me back to my childhood, Fouad. Thank you, and call your family. Family is important.

The fact that everyone in the audience agrees that homosexuals should be stoned to death does not disqualify them from being extremists. They are extremists. Every one of them. It’s an extreme view so they’re extremists by definition.

Hey all you atheists, the laws mentioned are DETERRENTS and not actually practiced like other laws as our history shows a handful of people were punished in this way and they asked for it to expiate their sins. A perfect example in the life of the Prophet when he turned his face multiple times.
Is it fair that you criticize a subject you know little to nothing about? This is not very ‘rational’ as you pride yourselves of being.

Hey all you atheists, the laws mentioned are DETERRENTS and not actually practiced like other laws as our history shows a handful of people were punished in this way and they asked for it to expiate their sins.

Atheists, like other people, can become detached from reality when its gets in the way of demonising the ‘enemy’. Their information about Islam may come from anti-Muslim hate sites and their knowledge of geopolitics may include only what supports a self-righteous Western supremacism. Atheists, after all, are merely individuals who have recognized the obvious fact that the gods are mythological beings. Beyond that, they don’t have to share any opinions and their opinions needn’t be particularly informed or well-thought-out.

However, it is no defence of having capital punishment for blasphemy in, for example, Pakistan to say that no executions have actually been carried out. It is beyond belief that 96% of the population of Pakistan have made a free choice to follow a medieval religion. What the law deters is freedom of thought and freedom of expression. Even if the legal punishment is not carried out, it encourages the ignorant, the stupid, the crazy, the cruel, vindictive and murderous to exploit the law as a means of persecuting those whom they choose to target. Assassination, imprisonment, loss of property, of employment, brutal attacks, living in fear and misery are the results of keeping Pakistan a Muslim country.

Atheists, like other people, can become detached from reality when its gets in the way of demonising the ‘enemy’. Their information about Islam may come from anti-Muslim hate sites and their knowledge of geopolitics may include only what supports a self-righteous Western supremacism.

I don’t want to bring this up again and again, but you ask for it. So Haifa=Jaffa? And separation=apartheid? Does this come from hate sites? You know what, I believe it doesn’t. It’s all made up.

Anyway, on the specific topic of this video, I am convinced that it’s blown out of proportion and you cannot draw conclusions from it. Looks like a faction trying to counter a moderate one in the struggle about who represents the real Muslims. In the process, they just stab all their brothers and sisters.

Anyway, on the specific topic of this video, I am convinced that it’s blown out of proportion and you cannot draw conclusions from it.

You can draw conclusions from the responses to it. We have bored looking Norwegian youths humouring a bearded buffoon and eminent intellectual Sam Harris calls the aforesaid buffoon’s drivel ‘a remarkable document’. What conclusion do you draw from that?

Hey all you atheists, the laws mentioned are DETERRENTS and not actually practiced like other laws as our history shows a handful of people were punished in this way and they asked for it to expiate their sins. A perfect example in the life of the Prophet when he turned his face multiple times.

Why should homosexuals be deterred from having sex, and lie about who they are? You are also ignoring real consequences, you can’t demonize a group of people, and then expect society to treat them like everybody else.

@Katy Cordeth

Only few minutes? So tell me what exactly what could had cancel out what they had said? That is like complaining that people are biased against Nazism because they don’t talk about positive part of they ideology. Any positive thing that they might be doing doesn’t cancel out they crazy parts.

Hey all you atheists, the laws mentioned are DETERRENTS and not actually practiced like other laws as our history shows a handful of people were punished in this way and they asked for it to expiate their sins. A perfect example in the life of the Prophet when he turned his face multiple times.

Hey all you atheists, the laws mentioned are DETERRENTS and not actually practiced like other laws as our history shows a handful of people were punished in this way and they asked for it to expiate their sins. A perfect example in the life of the Prophet when he turned h…

Actually in Sharia law you need 4 eye witnesses so Iran doesn’t use Sharia law, but that causes different problem because that law is used for rape as well so rapist are protected by that rule as well.

Hey all you atheists, the laws mentioned are DETERRENTS and not actually practiced like other laws as our history shows a handful of people were punished in this way and they asked for it to expiate their sins. A perfect example in the life of the Prophet when he turned his face multiple times.
Is i…

I’m from a Muslim background. A lot of things said in the video makes sense . I’m an Atheist by the way:), and a huge fan of Richard Dawkins. The dilemma of the so called liberal Muslims is rightly pointed out in this video. It will always remain an interesting struggle between Muslim with secular ideas and the radical religious teachings. They never come to term with it. Therefore they are always confused about women rights , gays , death penalties etc etc…